In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce an Australian LARPer and political commentator, Simeon "Aussie Cossack" Boikov. He’s best-known for rallying neo-Nazi groups to pro-Kremlin demonstrations, for assaulting the elderly, and for hiding in the Russian consulate in Sydney.

1/23

Boikov’s father was a Russian Orthodox priest, and by his words he’s always considered to be more Russian than Australian. After turning 18, he moved to Moscow to "study" in the Sretensky Monastery. The monastery is just stone’s throw away from FSB headquarters, and it is..

2/23

...widely considered to be an arm of Russia’s intelligence services. Boikov himself has confirmed this, when he stated that "One might say that while I was studying there I was, well, we must not say recruited, right? Basically, I fell under the influence of right thinking..
3/23

...pro-Russian elements." While at the monastery, he developed a close connection with Putin’s spiritual advisor, Patriarch Tikhon. After leaving the place, Simeon returned to Australia and soon joined a group called "Siberian Cossacks".

4/23

He quickly rose in its ranks and started transforming it from a cultural group into Russia’s fifth column in Australia. He told the Russian media that "We have a unique capacity to support Russia from within a hostile state. Even the FSB or a battalion of the Russian...

5/23

...SAS can’t achieve that, because unlike them we are citizens of this state."

If it wasn’t for promoting the genocidal war in Ukraine, "Aussie Cossack" would be a rather comical character. He likes to LARP as an actual soldier & even though he visited Donbas during the...

6/23

...the Kremlin-orchestrated uprising, he was too much of a coward to actually visit the front.

While there in 2015,he met with the mercenary, Igor Girkin. Girkin was convicted by Dutch courts for the down shooting of MH17 & he’s also stated that "I am responsible for War..
7/23

...in Eastern Ukraine. Simeon also claimed to be providing "humanitarian aid" in Donbas at the time, but some have speculated that he was actually providing military aid to Girkin and his mercenaries via Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev.

8/23

Malofeyev later appointed Simeon to head the Australian branch of his "Double Headed Eagle Society," probably funding Boikov’s pro-Kremlin, Australian propaganda outlet Russian Frontier.

Even though the "Aussie Cossack" looks like harmless and even cartoonish stereotype...

9/23

...of a Russian vatnik, he’s got deep connections to both Putin’s regime in Russia and to far-right and neo-Nazi movements in Australia.

In 2017 Simeon and his Nazi gang attacked Russian anti-corruption demonstrators by throwing antiseptic green dye at their faces.

10/23

They’ve also threatened Navalny supporters in Sydney, declaring that they should be "sent to the firing squad" or to a "Russian gulag." He’s called for the "liquidation" of Navalny.

Throughout the years, Boikov has worked for with Australian neo-Nazis and far-right...

11/23

...groups like the Serbian Chetniks, the Greek Golden Dawn, and the Russian Night Wolves. He’s been able to rally these goups to join him in anti-Ukraine demonstrations around Australia. While Boikov is complaining about "Ukrainian Nazis", he’s collaborating with...

12/23

...literal Nazi collaborators like the Serbian ultra-nationalist guerrilla group The Chetniks. Most, if not all, of those pro-Russian demonstrations you’ve seen circulating around Twitter, were organized by Boikov.

13/23

Simeon’s main channel of communication is his Telegram channel. It has over 53 000 subscribers, making it one of the biggest English-language pro-Russia channels on TG. There he shares basically any pro-Kremlin content, including debunked fake news and disinformation.

14/23

Some examples include the debunked image of "dead Zaluzhny", comparing Zelensky’s crew to Hitler’s, and sharing inflated losses for Ukraine.

15/23

He’s extremely active poster,typically posting~15 times per day on his channel.He also does videos & organizes rallies,like any effective fifth columner would.After the explosion at the Nova Kakhovka dam,he shared a picture that depicted drowning Ukrainian civilians as pigs.16/23

Boikov does video exposes of Australian and New Zealander volunteers fighting in Ukraine. He referred to one dead Australian humanitarian aid worker in Ukraine as "biolab worker", referring to the debunked bioweapons lab conspiracy theory that refuses to die.

17/23

In May 2023, Simeon called for nuclear strikes against Ukraine after the Kremlin was attacked with two drones. He also held a poll on his TG channel in which 54% of his subscribers supported a nuclear strike on either Kyiv or on Zelenskyy.

18/23

The Cossack has also recruited likeminded characters to work as his henchmen. One of them is another LARPer, Artem Kozmin, who has helped Boikov in organizing demonstrations like the Z rally for Russian Victory Day. Another one of his henchmen was a loser neo-Nazi called...
19/23

...James Walters. Walters died in May 2023, under suspicious circumstances. For a few days, Simeon stayed quiet, but finally released a statement where he accused NAFO for the death of his old "friend".
20/23

Lately Boikov’s ability to organize rallies has been greatly limited. In Dec 2022, he was interrupting a pro-Ukrainian demonstration when he was confronted by a 76-year-old man. He pushed the man down the stairs after which he drove directly to the Russian consulate,...

21/23

...where he has stayed ever since. The alleged reason for this was that he was already on parole for his previous crimes related to antivaxx demonstrations.

22/23

Since then, he’s officially applied for an asylum in Russia. If he manages to move to Russia, I’m sure Shoigu can come up with some kind of medal for him for pushing down elderly people.

BIG thanks to @DrewPavlou for helping me to prepare this soup (check his linktree!).

23/23